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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28021218">Safe and Sound</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bornofpepperoni/pseuds/Bornofpepperoni'>Bornofpepperoni</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>CrankGameplays - Fandom, Video Blogging RPF, markiplier - Fandom</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, Alternate Universe - Supernatural Hunters, Bartender Ethan Nestor, Blood and Gore, Blood and Violence, Demons, Ghost Hunters, Graphic Description, Hunter Mark Fischbach, M/M, Slow Burn, Supernatural AU - Freeform, Weapons</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 11:07:04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,641</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28021218</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bornofpepperoni/pseuds/Bornofpepperoni</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>It was just another town. It was just supposed to be another job. Much to Mark's dismay a cute bartender and a really bad night lead to a long road of vegenance, revenge, and chance meetings that would change his life forever.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Mark Fischbach/Ethan Nestor</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>48</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Safe and Sound</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>As always, mind the tags :) Also this isn't beta tested so sorry for any mistakes.</p>
    </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hello! I am writing this and How Could You Have Forgotten at the same time because I have been binge watching supernatural from the beginning and I wanted a side project. This won't be updated as frequently until the other fic is finished but let me know if you guys want more of this!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>          The bar was slow today, not that Mark cared a particular amount. He had already finished his hunt in town, the new scar running from his chest to his left hip his reward for a job well done. Well, that and the three shots of tequila courtesy of the pretty bartender serving those sitting at the long wood counter. Throwing back the third one, Mark gave his back a quick stretch, wincing a tad at the sting of the cut under his shirt. Running a hand over the scruff of a beard making its way to his face, he turned on his barstool enough to lean his elbows on the counter and scan the room around him. There were five or so in the bar itself, three surrounding the pool table lined with various empty glasses and two of which were at the same counter Mark himself was. It was always interesting to see this aspect of every town he found himself stumbling into. It wasn’t everyday you found yourself traveling across city to city throughout the entire U.S, so Mark certainly took advantage of the bars he could find along the way. Seeing the life of a backroads bar at 11pm on a Thursday night was a better way to see the heart of a town than hunting its monsters did. </p><p>          “Another shot please,” Mark said as he spun around on his stool to face the bartender again. The man beyond the counter looked over at him and gave a small laugh, shaking his head as went to comply with the order. “What got something to say to me?”</p><p>          The bartender shook his head no but a smile remained on his face. He grabbed a bottle towards the middle of the wall behind him, turning to face Mark again as he poured a small amount of the liquor into the short glass. “Your money.” There was something so vaguely familiar about the bartender but he chalked it up to nothing. Mark felt the tug of a smile on his lips, staring at the brunet pushing the drink towards him. He wore a v-neck grey shirt, his hair buzzed on the sides but long on top, and Mark couldn’t help let his eyes linger as he took the shot given to him. “With how much you drink I am surprised I have never seen you around here before.”</p><p>          “Just in town for a few days. Wrapped up some business tonight.”</p><p>          “I don’t think I would peg you as the traveling salesman type.” The bartender leaned against the backside of the counter, picking up a towel and wiping off the closest glass to him. </p><p>          Mark shrugged, hands lifting up as if confused himself. “What would you peg me for then?” The man laughed, tucking a strand of loose black hair out his eyes. The bartender went silent but took the moment to lean forward as if examining Mark’s every mole. Part of Mark felt a bit uneasy watching the man’s green eyes run over him, but the other part was deeply turned on. </p><p>          “Mechanic maybe. Don’t think they do much traveling though.” He guessed as he tilted his head to the side, eyes squinting.</p><p>          “I think the leather jacket and clear ability to work with my hands might be what’s distracting you.” Mark teased, flashing a smug smile that the bartender quickly gave a roll of his eyes too. The bartender flashed his eyes quickly to the other guests at the counter, one dropped the cash he owed at the counter and the other was passed out with his head dropped against the wood counter snoring lightly. Mark let his eyes linger on them too, turning his head briefly behind to see two of the three players at the pool table had also headed their separate ways.</p><p>          “Is the bar usually this quiet?” Mark asked, tossing the empty shot glass from hand to hand.</p><p>          “No,” The bartender said. Setting down the towel and glass and folding his arms across his chest. “It’s a weekday, sure but none of the usuals are here. You’re not from around here but this is the best bar on this side of Maine.”</p><p>          Interesting. It was a quiet evening but there was a small voice in the back of his head that ushered for him to keep aware of his surroundings. He ran a hand over his face and took it as a sign that maybe it would be best to avoid another full body wound for at least the next 24 hours. He had already helped this town enough today, he was likely still on edge was all. Mark stood up, grabbing his leather bag from the seat beside him, adjusting his jacket a bit before he headed outside.</p><p>          “Put the drinks on my tab, sweetcheeks.” Mark said, slinging the strap of the bag around his shoulder.</p><p>          “The tab of the man leaving tonight?” The bartender laughed. Raising his eyebrows as if to ask if the man was serious. Mark paused and looked around the room, hoping to cue the other in on the fact that he had meant what he said. “You can’t be serious.”</p><p>          “Let’s call it our little secret sweetcheeks.” Mark winked, glancing down at his pocket when he heard a small buzz of a notification. </p><p>          The man scoffed, moving his hands from where they were crossed over his chest to rest on his narrow hips. “The name is Ethan. If you’re going to run away you might as well use  it.”</p><p>          “Ethan,” Mark said with a smile, voice rumbling in the quiet room. “Catch you on the flipside Ethan.”</p><p>          Ethan opened his mouth to assumably say something, but stopped short and sighed. “Yeah man, whatever.” Shame Mark wasn’t staying in town, as Ethan turned away to wake up the guy asleep on his counter the man couldn’t help but risk a few glances over him. Shame. The hunter shook his head with a smile and made his way towards the exit, his boots hitting the wood floors beneath with a soft thud all the way through the small building. Everything was normal up until he grabbed the door handle. </p><p>          If Mark was being honest, he wasn’t quite sure what happened at first. It was a blur of the moment, but he knew for sure one moment he was at the exit and the next thing he knew the door blew open and he’s now slumped against the wall on the opposite side of the building. The air was knocked from his lungs and hitting the furniture on his quick trip across the room would leave bruises all along his back. The impact and movement must have ripped open his wound because a quick look at the shirt underneath his jacket showed him various splotches of soaked blood. Mark groaned, pushing at the ground to at least straighten himself a little bit. Blinking rapidly as if it would help catch himself up on what had happened, he frantically looked around until he spotted his assailant. </p><p>          Thankfully he didn’t look as if he were in as bad shape as the man standing before him, gashes in his face and his head all but dangling off but unfortunately still hanging on. There was an entire nest of those things, looks like he forgot one. “Mark fucking Fischbach.” It hissed, standing feet from him. Mark looked around to see those left in the bar had mostly left except Ethan who stood staring at the walking corpse in front of him frozen in place.</p><p>          “Pleasure to see you again,” Mark groaned as he managed to stand up straight, his back aching from the effort.</p><p>          “I’m going to kill you.” The creature’s head hissed again, despite the fact it was barely hanging on and upside down resting on his shoulder. If it weren’t for the fact it had knocked him across a room, Mark might have found it kind of funny. That was the unfortunate thing about vampires, once they caught your scent they never forgot it. It was also unfortunate that it needed to be a complete decapitation to kill it. </p><p>          “Might want to put your head on straight before making such bold statements. Wouldn’t want to embarrass yourself. Yikes.” Mark joked, but the crowd tonight definitely wasn’t in the mood. The vampire charged, fangs out of his loosely attached head and made a B-line to likely kill Mark this time. Mark was still disoriented but he grabbed a knife from the sheath in his right in time to watch a glass fly from the corner of his eye to smash into the creature's head mid-run. Mark’s head jerked to the side to see a very frightened Ethan standing after he had just thrown a water glass. Another unfortunate thing was that the creature noticed him too.</p><p>          Fuck. Not that he didn’t appreciate the help but this bartender was now also a target. It at very least provided a moment of distraction for Mark to charge the vampire. His knife wasn’t large enough to knock the bleeding head off but a few cuts could do it. Vampire’s were faster but the bartender’s distraction allowed for Mark to fully tackle the creature, pinning it to the wooden floor and stradling its hips. It yelped, it’s head unfortunately making a wet slap nose as it bounced off the ground. The hunter cringed a bit but quickly brought his knife down to slice at the connecting tissue remaining on his neck. The knife wasn’t bigger than a pocket knife so he tried to slice and soon realized that it was going to be a bit harder than previously anticipated. The vampire screamed beneath him, blood gurgling from the open wound of his entire neck. It thrashed beneath Mark as he attempted to saw off the rest and finally caught a lucky break by thrashing to the side, the screaming head swinging to smack into his own. </p><p>          Mark was sure in that moment it was the weirdest way he had even been headbutt in his entire career. Mark groaned and clutched his head as he fell off the vampire, the knife still clutched in his hand. The vampire scrambled back a bit but took the time to launch at Mark and pinning him for chance. It was like being pinned to the ground by the headless horseman but it wasn’t a sexy Halloween costume and it certainly wasn’t headless. The hunter barely managed to get one hand free to push away the dangling head above him snapping and snarling. This was definitely a first. The vampire was much stronger, snapping and trying to pin down Mark’s arms. That bartender had a death wish in Mark’s eyes because suddenly a bottle of Smirnoff was launched from across the room and shattered against the vampires...stump? Mark wasn’t quite sure what to call it in all honesty. </p><p>          It jerked in the direction of Ethan again, but this time decided to launch, scrambling off Mark to run at the bartender. Mark quickly brushed the hair away from his eyes and popped up onto his elbows to quickly reoriente himself. The vampire had already made its way to Ethan who had now unfrozen enough to run away from the creature charging at him at full speed. “Ethan hold on!” Mark winced as he yelled out and stood up, his head spinning from the pain of his wound and the ache in his head and back. Mark shook his head again, adjusted the knife in his hands and opened up his stance to attack again. Ethan had hopped out from behind the counter, back pressed against the wall as the vampire charged. Ethan yelped and grabbed a nearby table and slid it between them, pushing it to ram into the vampire’s legs. It grunted, clearly even more annoyed with him than it was before. It grabbed the table and threw it to the side as if it weighed  nothing, Ethan’s eyes widening in terror at the gruesome sight before him. </p><p>          Mark took the opportunity to sprint too, jumping on the vampire’s back as if to piggyback ride. He didn’t have a neck to grab though so he wrapped one arm around the shoulder and the other he used to try to continue cutting away the threads of flesh and tissue left. It thrashed around, swiping and trying to knock Mark off by backing into wooden posts or even slamming him against the wall. It felt like he was going cross-eyed now with how much he was getting slammed into things today. He grunted but continued to hold on working and sawing until the small little pocket knife only had a bit to cut through, the head dangling further and further to dropping completely off. If he survived this encounter he at least knew to always keep that stupid pocket knife sharper. Just as he was about to cut off the last pieces of tissue remaining, the vampire threw him off his back onto the top of the table that subsequently gave out beneath him. If he didn’t have a concussion by the end of this, Mark was sure he must have had the thickest skull known to humankind. </p><p>          The vampire, however, didn’t attack Mark. He turned and spotted Ethan who was pressed against the wall as his arms shook violently. Mark shoved away the parts of the broken table around him and scrambled to his feet in time to see the vampire grab Ethan by the neck and lift him up the wall, the bartender's feet kicked and his hands reached up to try to pry the hands off his neck. Ethan’s eyes widened as he choked in an attempt to breath, looking to Mark for help with tears running down his cheeks. Mark pulled out the small pistol strapped to the right side of his belt, pointing it towards the back of the vampire’s dangling head. Gunshots normally wouldn’t kill them, but there was hardly anything connecting his head from his body anymore and the impact of the bullet would likely rip the rest away.  “Let him go,” Mark yelled.</p><p>          The vampire turned around, one arm keeping Ethan pinned up on the wall still, the poor man’s head turning a vibrant red. “You know that  gun won’t work on me Mark.” The vampire smiled but due to his head being upside down it looked more like a frown than anything. God Mark just wanted this day to be over already.</p><p>          “Let him go or I swear I’ll kill you right now.” Mark threatened, keeping the gun trained on the piece of the vampire’s head attached to the flesh of his neck. The vampire seemed to consider this but arms didn’t drop. Ethan’s face was draining of color now, his limbs flailed less and Mark knew it was only a matter of time now before he stopped moving all together. “Now! This is between us.”</p><p>          The vampire scowled, dropping Ethan with a thud and turning away from him. Judging by the way Ethan scrambled away on the floor, holding his own neck and gasping for air, the smaller man wasn’t going to be back in the fight for the night. A little relief went through him knowing there wouldn’t be anymore casualties tonight other than these bloodthirsty vampires who had begun to plague Mark’s existence. It turned toward him and clenched it’s fists, blood dripping further over his mud covered clothes. “You still got that gun out like it’s going to help you.” It nearly laughed, gurgling as he spoke.</p><p>          “You seem so sure of that,” Mark hissed as he kept the gun trained on the creature across the very disheveled room from him. It was silent a moment before either of them moved. The quiet of the night and the soft chirp of the crickets outside the bar. “Let’s dance, bitch.” That’s all it took for the vampire to charge again and for Mark to pull the trigger. The bullet didn’t hit the exact section of flesh he wanted due to the sudden movement, but the impact was enough as it. It cleared the head off and in that exact moment the body dropped instantly and the head flew across the room and landed now far from Ethan who all but screamed.</p><p>          It was over. Mark lowered the gun slowly and rubbed at his temples while looking for a place to sit that wasn’t a demolished seat or table. Slumping into a wooden chair, Mark looked pulled up his shirt, looking at the opened wound from earlier and winces, letting the fabric fall back over it. He would find a motel somewhere later and clean it up. Mark still sat examining his new bruises and scratches when he heard a small voice from the bartender still staring mortified at the vampire’s head on the floor with its fangs still extended. “What was that.”</p><p>          “Vampire,” Mark called out. He closed his eyes and spotted his pocket knife that he had dropped on the floor in an attempt to find something to help him ignore the pounding in his head. </p><p>          “Vampire?” Ethan squeaked out in question, eyes unable to pull away from his decapitated head. “You aren’t serious.”</p><p>          Mark raised an eyebrow at the man still unable to look at him and shrugged, “Ethan the man barely had his head on and was attacking us both with super strength. You really think I’m lying right now?” Ethan went silent, eyes peeled from the head to stare at the ground before looking up at Mark. He was terrified, Mark could see it in his eyes. “Thank you.”</p><p>          “Thank you?” Ethan asked.</p><p>          “For throwing the glass. And the bottle. Most people in your position would have pissed themselves rather than fight back.” Mark said, his tone impressed and smugly surprised. Ethan didn’t make a move to answer or get up so Mark took the time to breathe in the peace and quiet before standing up. It was high time he got the hell out of dodge.</p><p>          Ethan spotted Mark standing and moved to do the same, rising up slowly as if to keep watch over the very clearly dead head a foot or so from him. “Where are you going.”</p><p>          Mark rolled his eyes and turned to Ethan with his arms in the air by his chest. “Leaving. I would suggest you close up for the night too. You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” the hunter teased, smiling smugly but wincing at the slight pain the huff of laughter caused in his head.</p><p>          Ethan looked more shocked to see him leave so casually than he did to see him blow the head off some guy. “Leave? You decapitate some...some monster, claim it's a vampire, and then leave?”</p><p>          Mark looked around confused, unsure of whether he was supposed to honestly answer that or not. He opened his mouth to speak but closed his mouth and elected to just shrug and look very clearly like yeah, that’s what I said.</p><p>          “You owe me some answers,” The smaller man said, eyebrows furrowed and pointing a finger at the hunter. </p><p>          “I don’t owe you anyth-”</p><p>          “I helped you, did I not?” Ethan asked, eyes still ringed red and a hand-print shaped bruise beginning to form on his pale neck. “Tell. Me.” The bartender demanded, fists shaking it his sides.</p><p>          Mark had to admit all of this was very confusing, and Ethan didn’t even know the half of everything. Hell it wasn’t even a sensible chunk of everything. The hunter brushed the hair out of his face, looking down at the floor before nodding. “There is a lot to tell. What do you want to know.”</p><p>          “Vampires are real?” Mark wanted to make a quip about how yes there was a  dead one currently on their floor but decided to stuff it this time.</p><p>          “Yes. Not like, Twilight vampires. Just,” Mark paused to sigh. “They need to feast on blood to live, human blood just so happens to be in high supply and taste ever so delicious to them. They live in nests, and your town just so happened to have a very active one. All of the deaths in town? You’re looking at one of the culprits.” Mark said, gesturing with a quick movement to the headless corpse. “You kill them by decapitating them. Guess I missed one.”</p><p>          “How do you know all of this?” Ethan asked softly, looking so confused and the fear from before never faded from his green eyes.</p><p>          “My job. I travel around and I...I hunt them.”</p><p>          “So you are a vampire hunter?”</p><p>          Mark laughed, looking down at the body again before glancing up to Ethan. “Among other things.”</p><p>          Ethan contemplated this, eyebrows furrowed and eye strained on the countertop he leaned against. Mark almost wished he had just run out of the building with the other patrons and just convinced himself he was hallucinating. “Other things?” The bartender finally decided on.</p><p>          Sometimes Mark wished it really was only vampires, but sometimes you never get what you want. “Yeah. Demons, Spirits, the occasional mythological creature.”</p><p>          “You hunt ghosts.” This disbelief was clear.</p><p>          “Well that makes me sound like a ghostbuster. I don’t wear a jumper and vacuum up ghosts. It’s dangerous, and we’re both lucky to be alive right now.” Mark said walking over to the bar which had survived pretty much unscathed and hopped up on the counter and grabbed a bottle of whatever was closest on the top shelf. </p><p>          Ethan definitely was having a hard time processing it. Mark watched as the other picked up the knocked over barstool and sat on it, hands folded in his lab and his eyes cast down to the floor. It was a lot to take it and nobody would ever believe him. “So they were the ones.” Mark raised his eyebrow in confusion at Ethan, who had yet to look back at him. It clicked after a second, why Ethan had looked so familiar when they had first met. </p><p>          “I saw your picture in the papers from a few months ago. Your parents….” Mark trailed off. When Mark had first arrived in town a few days ago to start his investigation, he had looked through the papers and online reports to see how far back the attacks had happened. The first deaths were almost 6 months ago. Mr and Mrs.Nestor had been killed in their own home. That’s where Mark recognized him from. “Ethan I’m so sorry.”</p><p>           “Did you get them all?” Tears had begun to fall from Ethan’s eyes and Mark was unsure now of what to do.</p><p>          “Ethan.” Mark began but was once more cut off.</p><p>           “Did you get them all?” It was a hiss now, Ethan’s words laced with venom and anger.</p><p>          Mark paused, unsure completely of what to say. “I got this nest, yes.”</p><p>           “This nest?”</p><p>          “Ethan there are others out there. I don’t even know how many others are out there. The ones that killed your parents, they are gone. That is all I can guarantee.” Ethan nodded at this but how tense he was gave Mark serious red flags.</p><p>           “Where are the others.”</p><p>          He scoffed as he leaned forward. Ethan couldn’t be serious could he? “I think a reasonable conclusion you could draw from what I just said was that I don’t know.”</p><p>          “But you could. You could find them like you did this one.” Ethan’s eyes were hopeful and there was a fire burning behind them that scared even Mark. The fear from earlier had shifted to something not all together holy.</p><p>           “Ethan you don’t know what you’re getting yourself into. It’s in your best interest to try to forget any of this happened and heal from this.” The hunter sipped straight from the bottle, the sour taste like heaven to his taste buds after all of this. </p><p>          Ethan stood up, practically kicking the chair to where it had fallen over before. “Like hell I’m going to forget. Mark wasn’t it? Well Mark I’m sorry to break it to you but I’m not letting you leave anywhere until we get rid of them all.”</p><p>          As he laughed, Mark took another swig of the drink before slamming it on the counter. “I’m sorry I didn’t realize you were in a position to make demands. You have no idea what this job is like and besides, they aren’t just all in one place. I traveled from Arkansas to here to find this one. I’m not sticking around.” He hopped off the counter, wincing again at the pain and wishing he had just left already. The vampire was dead, he could leave.</p><p>          “Then show me!” Ethan yelled, walking around to face Mark. “Train me or something. I want to know how to get rid of them.”</p><p>          “I get the anger kid but seriously. This isn’t some everyday job. I almost died today before I even arrived here. I’m no coach so you better start working on that forgetting part.” Mark scoffed, irritated at the other. The hunter turned around, shoving his hands in his pockets as he walked out of the bar. He didn’t hear footsteps behind him until he was already outside and headed for his car. </p><p>          Mark felt a hand grab his arm and jerked away, swinging a fist at the man who just as easily dodged it and swung himself, hitting Mark square on the jaw. He stumbled away and held his face, shocked that Ethan had managed such a quick blow. This guy was full of surprises today it seemed. “Please Mark.” Ethan asked, hands dropped at his sides but his stance ready to run.</p><p>          “Why are you so hellbent on this? I killed the fuckers that killed your parents. Why isn’t that  enough?” Mark asked, nearly pleading at this point to just be left alone so he could sleep. Sleep sounded even better than booze right now.</p><p>           “Would it be enough for you?” Ethan asked, the tears were still in his eyes but it was clear the simmering anger was all that kept them from spilling over. “If what you are saying is real Mark I want them all gone.”</p><p>          Mark looked around in the dark, seeing nothing but the lone empty bar and the unlit road ahead winding through the forest. His body was screaming for him to get in the car and pass out in the back seat, but his head was ushering for him to listen to the boy. Dean had a partner once but it didn’t last; that was an experienced hunter then and Ethan was the exact opposite. As Mark turned in a circle pondering his next course of actions he finally threw his hands in the air in frustration. “You’ll die.”</p><p>          “I don’t exactly have anything else to live for Mark.”</p><p>          The words echoes through the air, the chill of the night beginning to kick up with the slight wind rustling the pine leaves all around them. Neither moved and neither spoke, they simply stood and stared at each other. Mark hoped Ethan would give in, say psych, and head back into the bar and close for the night. However, it was Ethan’s lucky day given Mark’s beaten stature and desire to patch himself up and go to sleep. The hunter wished he could go back in time and revoke thinking that bartender was cute. Cute privileges were officially revoked given the circumstances.</p><p>          “This won’t bring you any closure.” Mark finally broke as he gave a heavy sigh and watched his breath billow into the air in a huff of smoke.</p><p>          “Let me be the judge of that.” Ethan said, eyes determined and looking ready to take on much more than he really was able to. </p><p>          This was a mistake. This was a really big mistake and Mark knew that. Yet staring at the younger man full of rage and determination it reminded himself of what he was like years ago when he first started hunting. It was dangerous and those emotions never got you far. Ethan would likely pursue this on his own, so his chances of survival were at least slightly greater with Mark. It was a mistake but Mark was too tired and in too much pain to continue fighting or risk the bartender socking him in the face again. </p><p>          “Let me get one thing straight then Ethan. You do as I say. You follow what I tell you or I’m leaving you stranded on the side of the road. You can tag along with me but the second I catch whiff of another job that takes priority. The second we clear out the rest of the vampire nests you go home. Do I make myself clear?”</p><p>          Ethan nodded vigorously, standing up straight and no longer looking like he was about to run away. Mark adjusted his jaw, still sore after the punch which didn’t help the ache in his head. “Okay.”</p><p>          “Okay.” With that, Mark headed for his car. Ethan followed behind, suddenly acting more timid as if he had not just demanded a random stranger to take him on some conquest to mass murder vampires. </p><p>          “A mini-van? Really?” Ethan asked once they had arrived, Mark opening the trunk to throw his knife and unload his gun. </p><p>          Mark looked over to Ethan with his eyes squinted and dark hair falling into his eyes. “I’m sorry did the man with no say in jack shit just make fun of my car?” Ethan gave a smirk that Mark did not return, the man groaning as he removed his brown leather jacket and threw it in the back. Ethan moved to see inside the truck, his face going pale at the amount of knives and guns strapped to the sides of the walls and ammo boxes littered along the floor. </p><p>          “You’re injured.” Ethan said, as if it were not clear as day with the way Mark’s shirt clung to his skin due to soaking up the blood. </p><p>          “We got a real Sherlock here don’t we.” Mark snorted, wincing at the pain as he stretched but shaking his head as he grabbed a small box of Hello Kitty bandaids he had in his near empty medical case. He sat down on the back of the van and lifted his shirt, the cut runnin from his chest to his hip bleeding again in certain areas and parts now ringed a slight yellowish color. If it got infected or scarred over Mark might just have to join Ethan on his rampage to destroy the vampires. Then it hit the hunter that whether he liked it or not he just agreed to join the other’s rampage. </p><p>          “I need to grab my stuff from my car. I’ll be back.” Ethan whispered and disappeared around the side of the van. Mark gave a dismissive wave and grabbed the nearly empty bottle of peroxide and ignored the small sting of it as he poured some over the long cut. It bubbled a bit where the infection began but it was very faint so that was at least good news. It was almost funny, unwrapping the vibrant pink bandages and putting them helplessly over the deepest parts of the cut. Life just got a lot more complicated and by what he could tell from today, the days were about to get a lot longer. He grabbed an extra shirt from a duffle on the top of one of the folded down backseats and replaced it so at least he wouldn’t be checking in to the first motel coated in a thin layer of his own blood.</p><p>          Ethan returned not too long after, his own small black backpack in tow. He stood there awkwardly as Mark changed his shirt, eyes averted to the side, and waited until Mark gestured with his head for him to place the backpack in the trunk. “You often care about everything you need to elope in the backseat of your car?” Mark asked, wiggling back into his jacket and thankful for the warmth again from the cold.</p><p>          “After my parents died we lost the house. Bartending doesn’t exactly pay the mortgage. I live out of my car.” The words shut Mark up, coughing awkwardly and standing up from where he sat. Ethan scanned the back of the van looking at the small symbols and drawings along the inside in chalk. “What are those?”</p><p>          “Think of them like seals. Nothing that I don’t want gets inside.” Ethan nodded at Mark’s answer but clearly didn’t understand. Everything in due time. The first step in this was going to be teaching him how to shoot. The second would be getting him caught up on the evils of the world he was going to wish he never knew. This was a seriously bad idea the more he realized what he was going to be subjecting Ethan to, but the man asked for this and Mark seemed to have a weakness for young brunets with a death wish. </p><p>          “Where to now?” Ethan asked as Mark closed the van and locked it up for the road. </p><p>          “Sleep. Then it’s your first day of school buddy.” Mark flashed him a superficial smile and hopped into the driver’s seat. Ethan joined him moments later, quickly buckling up and pressing as far into the door as possible. Giving him a glance over, Mark laughed and reached for the radio. He wasn’t expecting to take a souvenir from this town and his brain still screamed this was a bad idea, but he knew exactly what it felt like to be in Ethan’s position. In a way it was like helping his past self. Mark sighed and put the van into drive, letting his new future begin with the sounds of 2012 Taylor Swift and a glare at his new companion to not judge.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>&lt;3 Thank you again for reading</p>
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